A Republican lawmaker is facing online backlash after allegations that he responded to a constituent concerned about state abortion laws by suggesting she move to another country, such as Venezuela or Russia.

In a video circulating on TikTok and now receiving hundreds of thousands of views across social media, a woman named Lindsay Talley says a friend of hers has a genetic disorder that causes life-threatening anomalies with fetal heart issues. Due to this, Talley says, state abortion laws “make it impossible for her to expand her family.”

Talley says in the video her friend “wrote an annoying letter” to Robeson County state Sen. Danny Britt, expressing her concerns. She said Britt replied by saying he was not “certain” how the state was preventing her from expanding her family and added, “I suggest you move to China immediately and see how that works out for you. If for some reason that fails, Russia is nice in the winter and Venezuela in the summer.” The TikTok video includes what appears to be a screenshot of that exchange, which shows the email as signed by Britt.

The News & Observer attempted to reach Britt by phone, text, and email, but received no response. The N&O has also filed a records request with Britt’s office for the email exchange. CBS-17 went to Britt’s office seeking comment but was turned away.

A former prosecutor who currently runs a law firm in Lumberton, Britt is a four-term senator representing Senate District 24 in Hoke, Robeson, and Scotland counties. He is the chairman of the judiciary and justice and public safety appropriations committees.

Senate Democrats posted on X, condemning Britt’s “appalling response to a concerned NC resident,” saying that it “shows just how out of touch he and his Republican Senate colleagues are.”

“This is what the NC GOP thinks of our voices? North Carolina deserves better!” the post from the Senate Democratic caucus says.

Britt previously had a social media account on X, but it has been deleted. It’s unclear when he deleted the account or if it was related to the TikTok post.

Asked for a comment and a way to reach her friend, Talley told The N&O via email that she could not discuss the topic further before consulting with her employer’s legal department.

CBS17 reported that the woman who reached out to Britt’s office requested privacy but shared a statement expressing appreciation for the support she has received and understanding the “outrage” over Britt’s response.

“Many people think of the common genetic disorders tested for early in pregnancy, such as T18 or Down Syndrome,” she said, but “the rare disorders that are uncommon cannot be tested for until 16 weeks and beyond. The doctors are unclear if these types of genetic disorders are considered ‘life-threatening,’” she said, as reported by CBS17.

She added, “we are not the only family” facing this issue and hope to bring awareness while respecting that some “may not agree or fully understand this situation.”

Following the fall of Roe v. Wade, GOP lawmakers in North Carolina passed a law prohibiting abortion after 12 weeks, with exceptions for rape, incest, medical emergencies, and up to 24 weeks if a qualified physician diagnoses a “life-limiting anomaly.”

A life-limiting anomaly is defined as a diagnosis by a qualified physician of a physical or genetic condition that is a “life-limiting disorder” and is “uniformly diagnosable.”

Dr. Beverly Gray, an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Duke University, noted that creating a list of conditions that qualify as medical emergencies is challenging, and those decisions are left to physicians’ discretion. “I think there are many ways that pregnancy can endanger a person’s life,” Gray said, as previously reported by the N&O.

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